February 18, 2006

Israel is starting to think in terms of systems disruption (which reflects the shift in warfare I have been writing about):

On Friday, The Jerusalem Post quoted senior security and government officials who warned that this country must gird itself for "a large-scale disaster," should the Kassam rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip hit one of the super-sensitive targets in Ashkelon's industrial zone. These include the Rutenberg Power Station - which supplies electricity to nearly half of Israel (as well as to Gaza) - huge depots of fuel and potentially deadly chemicals, the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, a desalination plant and many more.

The idea that the Kassam (homebuilt) rockets (which under normal circumstances are more of a pest than a real threat) could be turned into an effective operational weapon didn't escaped me. I am glad to see the Israeli's finally understand this too.

Ashkelon is not only a large and very soft civilian target; it is of vital strategic importance. In this setting, even unsophisticated weaponry can cause environmental and economic catastrophes, to say nothing of the taking of innumerable lives.

Using Kassam rockets for systems disruption are but one of many potential innovations. This puts the security the wall provides into an entirely different light.

Jack Foster Mancilla: John writes the best blog on forward thinking, regarding the development of war in the current era, and thinks proactively as to its future. This is one blog I read everything written. — Jack